Ahmed Abdalla

McMaster University

Ahmed is an Honours Bachelor of Science candidate at McMaster University. He is currently the Faculty of Science undergraduate student representative to the McMaster University Senate. He is also a peer mentor to his fellow science colleagues in their first and second years. Ahmed is passionate about the democratic process, and is a firm believer that youth engagement in this process is crucial to the advancement of our country. An immigrant himself, Ahmed volunteers to aid in the integration of new immigrants as he considers immigrant integration a pivotal point to building a strong, diverse, and inclusive society. As part of the Mississauga Centre Youth Council, he hopes to amplify youth voices and learn more about the political process. He anticipates engaging in fruitful discussions with other members of the council, which he desires will lead to positive impacts in our community

Daisy Eze

Toronto Metropolitan University

Daisy was born and raised in Nigeria, Africa. She migrated to Canada alone at 16 years old where she completed high school and continued on to university. Daisy is currently a third year Politics and Governance at Toronto Metropolitan University. She has been passionate about politics and law her entire life. However, this passion grew stronger when she moved to Canada alone as a young teenager. She had to navigate through all sectors of life in a foreign country and that experience opened her eyes to a lot. She is very proud to say that through her works and involvement in politics, systemic oppression and enlightenment, she cofounded a system of integration in Mohawk College- a system that allows for the involvement and integration of students living with disabilities in all aspects of the College activities. Daisy is hoping to broaden her knowledge and understanding of politics from this Youth Council experience.

Ibraheem Hussain 

ISNA High School

braheem Hussain is a motivated grade 11 student at ISNA High School with aspirations of pursuing a career in computer science. He hopes to use that knowledge to create initiatives in his community to assist those in need. Ibraheem has experience serving as a soccer referee, a volunteer tutor for disadvantaged children and a poll worker during the 2022 Mississauga Municipal Elections. He has also volunteered for organizations like the National Council of Canadian Muslims, Safe City Mississauga and the Canadian Cancer Society. Through these experiences, he has gained valuable skills such as a willingness to collaborate, how to become a better leader and the importance of versatility. During his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and soccer and learning about different cultures and traditions from around the world. Ibraheem hopes through his involvement in the Mississauga Centre Youth Council that he will be able to give back to his community, particularly the youth, voicing their concerns to Members of Parliament. His primary concerns include increasing mental health awareness, having more youth civic involvement and creating better youth employment opportunities.

Jessica Truong 

Sheridan College

Jessica is a part-time student in her third year in the Early Childhood Education program at Sheridan College. Previously, she dedicated over 700 hours to volunteering for the city, non-profit organizations and fundraisers in various settings. She received the Southside Shuffle Rookie Student Volunteer of the Year Award in 2019. Throughout Jessica’s extra-curricular activities, she formerly served as a general member of Sheridan ECE Advocates and Campus Ambassador for the Social Change Ambassadors program. She is committed to promoting advocacy in the early years and gender equality. Additionally, she supported social change initiatives and programs to bring attention to marginalized and oppressed groups. As a youth council member, Jessica hopes to increase her knowledge of federal politics. Her interest in equity, diversity, and inclusion started because representation matters and she witnessed the exclusion of content related to minorities such as Black, Indigenous and racialized people. Furthermore, she wants to bring awareness to global issues that need attention and get involved in the community. She looks forward to voicing her ideas as well as making a difference.

Khizar Zaman

Glenforest Secondary School

Khizar is a diligent Grade 10 IB student at Glenforest Secondary School. He has a wide variety of interests, such as in politics, computer science, and philosophy. Khizar is heavily involved in the community through a variety of extracurricular activities that combine his passions, whether it be contributing to clubs at school or volunteering for youth-led nonprofit initiatives outside of school, such as Tech Under Twenty. As a part of the Youth Council, Khizar hopes to learn more about the inner workings of the federal political system while also delivering on a project to help politically empower the youth in this riding.

Laith Subaih 

University of Toronto

Layeebah Ahmad

McMaster University

Methuli Amarasinghe

Nyle Rafiq

Rayyan Nisar

Glenforest Secondary School

Rayyan is currently a grade 11 high school student at Glenforest Secondary School, enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. His future career interests lie within the medical field, and he is hoping to become an undergraduate student in the Health Science program in McMaster University. Currently, I am involved in a variety of extracurricular activities. I am an active volunteer and project leader at SacredHand Canada, a local welfare organization, and a part of the Teen Advisory Program in two Mississauga Libraries. I also volunteer as a soccer coach and have been part of several clubs and sports teams within my school. As a part of this Youth Council, I hope to gain experience and knowledge of the inner workings of the political system and learn how to make positive changes within the system, through the help and support of my team members. In addition, I also hope to be able to work with my team in order to bring awareness of several pressing issues in our city.

Swathi Ravi Shankar

Rick Hansen Secondary School

Swathi is a sixteen-year-old student at Rick Hansen Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario. She was born in Bangalore, India and moved to Canada when she was 8 years old. She has been an active leader and advocate in several non-profit organizations and charities such as PuMP and AlumNav where she’s helped fellow high school students discover STEM. She has been involved with Harvard University in their coveted “STRIPED” initiative where she has raised awareness about the negative impacts of diet pills and muscle supplements on youth. She had also participated in the Climate Change Youth Challenge in 2021 and received recognition from the mayor of Mississauga for her contributions to the betterment of the city. She also founded a Gender Equality club at her school and is currently the president of Model UN, where she helps educate her peers about global issues such as public health and economics. She has also been playing piano for over six years and has won numerous competitions. She would like to investigate environmental policies and immigration during her time in the Youth Council. Furthermore, she aims to contribute new ideas to make the GTA more inclusive for minority groups and immigrants.

The Youth Council would enable her to make a bigger impact in her community. She would also like to learn more about government policies and initiatives through the youth council. She is excited to work with other members and make a difference!

Zara Zaman

Zara is currently a student in her final year at University of Toronto. She is doing a specialisation in Astrophysics, major in Earth science and minor in Physics. She has been doing research in her field for three years and hope to continue her passion for research by pursuing a master's degree. She is part of several clubs at her university which is how she realized that not many students are aware of mental health resources on campus or in Mississauga. Moreover, she volunteer for scientific outreach which has made her aware of the disparities young girls face in joining STEM fields.

Her grandmother taught her to not only understand the world but to also help people in any way she can which is why she decided to join the youth council. She became interested in politics when she took part in the Model United Nations in 2014. Growing up, she watched my grandfather and father read the newspaper over morning tea and it has slowly become her habit too. Zara hopes to better understand the problems surrounding her community and on how to resolve those difficult issues.